- Reaction score
- 12
Afternoon all.
Having spent some time looking at the headways being made in cell-based hair restoration, I think I've managed to distill the main points of interest/challenge going forward. In the interest of brevity, I'll highlight only the main points.
Looking at the results of Shiseido's latest study, it is easy to lose confidence in the whole area of cell-based regenerative science, but I think closer inspection actually reveals a lot to be excited about.
Investigators found an 8% increase in hair density in the scalp regions treated, with efficacy waning after approx. 9 months. First, the downsides:
What we hope to gain from this treatment is an unlimited supply of hairs that will, when induced into the scalp, continue to provide thick hair in not for life, then for a protracted period of time. This is not the case so far and it shows that we do have quite some way to go in perfecting this delicate science.
Burgeoning the disappointment is the rather limited improvement in hair density. 8% leaves much to be desired, indubitably.
However. This study, I think, is a paradigm shift for many companies– the fact is that the treatment is safe and, although minimally, it is effective. We don't have the hairloss panacea yet, but getting this incredibly complex organ to produce hair for the best part of a year in human patients and not mice is exciting; it's tantalizing and investors and rival companies will be attentive to this. We have begun to bridge the gap between animal and human safely. We have entered what I see as the final phase of development for an effective hairloss treatment.
Sure, it might be five, even ten years before this science is perfected and rolled out into the market, perhaps even longer still before it's affordable to most that save for it, but it is, be under no doubt, on its way.
TL;DR: Focus on what this research fundamentally demonstrates: cell-based regenerative science is the right horse to back and, when tweaked, will be effective in human subjects.
Having spent some time looking at the headways being made in cell-based hair restoration, I think I've managed to distill the main points of interest/challenge going forward. In the interest of brevity, I'll highlight only the main points.
Looking at the results of Shiseido's latest study, it is easy to lose confidence in the whole area of cell-based regenerative science, but I think closer inspection actually reveals a lot to be excited about.
Investigators found an 8% increase in hair density in the scalp regions treated, with efficacy waning after approx. 9 months. First, the downsides:
What we hope to gain from this treatment is an unlimited supply of hairs that will, when induced into the scalp, continue to provide thick hair in not for life, then for a protracted period of time. This is not the case so far and it shows that we do have quite some way to go in perfecting this delicate science.
Burgeoning the disappointment is the rather limited improvement in hair density. 8% leaves much to be desired, indubitably.
However. This study, I think, is a paradigm shift for many companies– the fact is that the treatment is safe and, although minimally, it is effective. We don't have the hairloss panacea yet, but getting this incredibly complex organ to produce hair for the best part of a year in human patients and not mice is exciting; it's tantalizing and investors and rival companies will be attentive to this. We have begun to bridge the gap between animal and human safely. We have entered what I see as the final phase of development for an effective hairloss treatment.
Sure, it might be five, even ten years before this science is perfected and rolled out into the market, perhaps even longer still before it's affordable to most that save for it, but it is, be under no doubt, on its way.
TL;DR: Focus on what this research fundamentally demonstrates: cell-based regenerative science is the right horse to back and, when tweaked, will be effective in human subjects.